Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (19.2019)

iconographic program of both icons, it can be concluded that the insertion was
not merely a way of protecting the image. Although little is known about the his-
tory of the icon itself, it is undoubtedly associated with the history of the Vlatadon
Monastery, founded by the brothers Dorotheos and Markos Vlates between 1351
and 1371.55 Currently, the monastery is dedicated to the Transfiguration, but in
the patriarchal letter from 1488, preserved in the monastery s archives, there is
a mention of the name navTOKparopiKr] povrj 7uv BharaSccw, which is why some
researchers believe that the monastery may have been previously dedicated to
Pantocrator.56 This is not without significance in the interpretation of the icono-
graphic program itself, in which Christ Pantocrator appears twice. This may lead
to the inference that it was the main cult icon in the monastery, as suggested by
A. Tourta.57 Most certainly it was used in processions,58 and perhaps this was
the reason for the extension thereof, and the insertion of a new icon into it, which,
taking the form of a panel, becomes its integral part, whereas the complex pro-
gram as well as the broad and sophisticated message can testify to the extensive
theological knowledge of the founder. It is possible that it was the founder himself
that was depicted in the bottom corner of the frame on the Crucifixion side, and
maybe, as suggested by Annemarie Weyl Carr, it is a representation of the monk
to whom the icon had belonged.59
An icon as reliąuary
In searching for the answer to the ąuestion about the ideological and devotional
function of the icon from Vlatadon, it may be helpful to look at the few surviving
examples that still remain the objects of veneration at the places of their origin.
One such image is an icon from the Amirou monastery in the village of Apsiou
in Cyprus, dating from the sixteenth century. It depicts the Virgin and Child with
the inscription H NEA OANEPOMENH (see: Figurę 20), with a smaller icon
featuring a similar representation inserted at the height of the Virgin Marys
coat.60 Originally it was hidden behind a movable door, of which only a frag-
ment of the right wing survived. The image attracts pilgrims who attribute it
with the power of treating eye diseases. This is connected to the legend of the
icons origin, according to which it was found by the daughter of a certain Emir
from Syria, who accompanied her during her quest for healing. During a visit
to Cyprus, the woman saw a light leading to a cave with the icon, where she was
instructed by the Virgin Mary in the icon to wash her eyes in a nearby spring.
When the patient regained her sight, the Emir founded a church as a token of his
55 A. EtoyióyAou, H ev 0ecraaXoviKri, pp. 56-65; the same time of creation was then repeated
in later publications, see: X. MauponoiAou-Toioupr], Movr/ BXaTÓ.8cov, 0ccrcraXoviKr| 1987,
p. 21; A. MśvrCoc;, A. nXidmx, n. Av6poń6r|ę, Anorvnó>para: Y] fiv(avTivr] 0EooaXov'iKq oe
(pa>Toypa<pisę Kai ayćdia rrję BpsTaviKiję X%oXr]c;, 0ecraaXoviKr| 2016, p. 104, another proposed
datę is the first half of the fourteenth century, compare: A. EvYYÓ7touXoc;, lEoaapeę piKpoi vaoi
r/yę 0s<jaaXoviKt]c; ek to)v ypóva)v ra)v naXatoXóycov, 0eooaXoviKr| 2007, p. 62.
56 F.A. EtoylóyXov, H ev 0EaaaXoviKiy p. 56; X. MaupoitovXov-Tcriovpr|, Movr], p. 10.
57 A. Toupra, Ap<pinpóaa)7tr], pp. 152-153; eadem, Eikóvec;, pp. 178-180.
58 Rectangular carvings at the bottom of the icon seem to point to that.
59 A. Weyl Carr, Images, p. 146.
60 A. nairaYEiopYiou, Apipovę llavayiaę povacrrripi, in: MEyócXr] KvnpiaKr] EyKVKXonai8sia, edited
by A. navXidr|<;, vol. 2, AeuKoiaia 1985, p. 30; K. naiiaYEaipYiou, H EIavayia, p. 43; S. Sophocleous,
Icones de Chypre: diocese de Limassol i2e-ióe siecle, Nicosie 2006, pp. 239-240, no. 219-220.


Figurę 20. Composite icon
from Panagia Amirou,
sixteenth century, Panagia
Amirou Monastery, Apsiou,
Cyprus. Photo from lEpa
Móvq navayia<; Apipouę,
Kunpoę 2009, p. 6
-> see p. 17
Figurę 21. Composite icon
of the Panagia Saitiotissa,
fifteenth or sixteenth cen-
tury, Monastery of John the
Baptist in Mesa Potamos,
Cyprus. Photo courtesy of
the Monastery
-> see p. 17
Figurę 22. Composite icon
of the Panagia Saitiotissa in
the iconostasis, Monastery
of John the Baptist in Mesa
Potamos, Cyprus. Photo
courtesy of the Monastery
-> see p. 17

The composite icon at Vlatadon monastery in Thessaloniki...

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